Method and apparatus for monitoring telephone status

ABSTRACT

The monitor is for monitoring the status of a first client telephone, and for sending this status information via a central server to an authorized second client telephone. The central server stores a database of registered client telephones and corresponding client telephones that the client may monitor. A user of a registered client telephone monitors in real time the telephone status of registered friends, family, or co-workers that have agreed to be monitored by the user.

The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/282,360 filed Mar. 31, 1999. BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION

[0001] Conventional telephone systems can provide a caller's statusinformation, but do so in a costly manner that requires significant usertime. For example, the office based PBX telephone system provides acaller with status information.

[0002] Determining whether the party's line is busy or availablerequires a caller's telephone to poll a central station and wait for acall back to receive status information.

[0003] At present, the telephone industry is in the process of switchingto digital technology (i.e., Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN),and Asymmetric Digital Loop (ASDL)). ISDN is an internationalcommunications standard for sending voice and data over telephone lines.ISDN technology transmits data at a rate far faster than prior telephoneconnection technologies. ISDN lines generally include three channels,two bearer (B) channels and one data (D) channel. Each B channel carriesvoice and data at a bandwidth of 64 kbps (thousands of bits per second),and the D channel handles signal control information. ISDN's two Bchannels enable the caller to simultaneously receive and sendinformation. Currently, digitally enabled telephones are being produced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004]FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a conventional telephonesystem.

[0005]FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the digital phone monitoringsystem of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0006]FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a connection between a clienttelephone of an embodiment of the present invention and a telephonyapplication programming Interface (TAPI).

[0007]FIG. 4A shows a schematic diagram of a client telephone of anembodiment of the present invention.

[0008]FIG. 4B shows a schematic diagram of a client telephone of anotherembodiment of the present invention.

[0009]FIG. 5 shows a diagram of a central server in accordance with thedigital phone monitoring system of FIG. 2.

[0010]FIG. 6 shows an exemplary table of a monitored party databasestored on a client telephone.

[0011]FIG. 7A shows an exemplary table of a client database stored on acentral server.

[0012]FIG. 7B shows an exemplary DTMF code database stored on a centralserver.

[0013]FIG. 8 shows an exemplary TCP/IP information database stored on acentral server.

[0014]FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of the notification process performed bya central server.

[0015]FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of the registration performed by acentral server.

[0016]FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of the notification process performed bya central server.

[0017]FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of the queue manager process performedby a central server.

[0018]FIG. 13 shows a diagram of an embodiment of a client telephone.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0019] The telephone disclosed in various embodiments of the presentinvention may be configured in accordance with a “plug-and-play”protocol. The user of the telephone simply plugs the telephone into atelephone jack. The telephone automatically connects to the centralserver, receives TCP/IP information from the server for futurecommunications and registers the client. The client then selects theparties that the client wishes to monitor.

[0020] The client may select parties to monitor by programming theparties' telephone numbers into the client's local telephone or by adirectory lookup by name. The client's telephone communicates thesetelephone numbers to the central server and the central server verifiesthat the parties agree to be monitored. Once the parties agree, theparties register with the system. The client may also select parties tomonitor by contacting the service associated with the central serveroff-line and submitting a request to monitor the specified parties. Thecentral service may verify the agreement of the parties to be monitoredby contacting them off-line (e.g., via telephone call, postal mail,e-mail).

[0021] Alternatively, the process to select parties to monitor may beinitiated by the monitored party. The party to be monitored submits arequest to the central server. In return, the central server remotelyprograms the monitoring party's telephone with the monitored party'sstatus and identification information. It will be appreciated that themonitoring party may locally program its telephone. If the monitoredparty requests a monitoring party that is currently not a client to thestatus monitoring service, the service contacts the monitoring partyoff-line to determine if this party wishes to become a client to theservice to receive status updates from the monitored party.

[0022] Referring first to FIG. 2, a schematic diagram of the digitalphone monitoring system of an embodiment of the present invention may begenerally appreciated. It will be appreciated that an embodiment of thepresent invention defines a first telephone as a monitored clienttelephone 202, and defines a second telephone as a monitoring telephone206. In particular, communication links between three monitoring clienttelephones 206, a central server 204 and three monitored clienttelephones 202 are shown in FIG. 2. Whenever a change in status of amonitored client telephone 202 occurs, monitored client telephone 202communicates the status change via central server 204 to each monitoringclient telephone 206 registered to receive status updates of thatmonitored client telephone 202. It will be appreciated that the numberof monitored client telephones 202 and monitoring client telephone 206shown in FIG. 2 were arbitrarily chosen, and that alternativeembodiments of the present invention may include any number of monitoredand any number of monitoring client telephones.

[0023] One of ordinary skill in the art will understand the benefits ofreceiving the status of another telephone. For example, teenagers maymonitor their friends to determine which of their friends' phone linesare busy. When a teenager wants to call a friend, prior to even pickingup and dialing the phone, the teenager automatically knows which friendsare available to talk. The teenager may be presented with a list offriends, so that the teenager can instantly see which ones areavailable. In another example, a mother may want to monitor her hometelephone while at work. The mother may be interested in determiningwhether the phone is busy, or may wish to monitor the amount of timethat her son, daughter or babysitter is on the phone per day.

[0024] It will also be appreciated that status information may be inputat monitored client telephone 202. For example, when a child arriveshome, the child may enter a DTMF code into monitored client telephone202 (e.g., *68). The code representing a status update is sent tocentral server 204. Central server 204 forwards the status informationto the child's mother's monitoring client telephone 206, therebyinforming the mother that her child has arrived at home.

[0025] In another example, a supervisor may monitor when a telecommutingemployee or consultant is working. For instance, the employee orconsultant enters a predetermined code into monitored client telephone202 when arriving at work. Monitored client telephone 202 sends the codeto central server 204. Central server 204 searches a DTMF code database340, as shown in FIG. 7B, retrieving the status corresponding to thecode. Once retrieved, central server 204 sends the status to monitoringclient telephone 206. The status allows the supervisor to know when tocontact the employee or consultant. Alternatively, this embodiment ofthe invention may provide the supervisor with additional information.For example, accounting and billing processes may calculate the totalnumber of hours the employee worked. The status may also affect thebilling rate for the called party. For example, calling a consultantwhile her status is “unavailable” may result in a higher charge (e.g., ahigher hourly billing rate) for that caked time. A billing program mayobtain such information as total time with a certain status (e.g., astatus of “working”) and/or the total time on the phone with aparticular status (e.g., “lunchtime”) and/or the applicable billing rateor other fee structure. Such a billing program could then generate anappropriate bill based thereon, and output a bill in printed, electronicfile, email, fax or other forms. Those skilled in the art will recognizethat these examples are provided purely for illustrative purposes andshould not be understood to limit the breadth of the invention.

[0026] Status information may also be automatically determined by clienttelephone 202, central server 204, a monitoring client telephone, or anycombination of the foregoing whether cooperating or not. For example,the location or approximate location of a phone (e.g., a cellular phonewith GPS capability, cellular phones with other location abilities,calculating the Doppler effect of a signal received from a cellularphone) may be ascertained by the central server 204 by, e.g., receivinga signal from the cellular phone that indicates the location orapproximate location of the cell phone. Alternatively, the phone maybroadcast a signal, which is received by a receiver. The strength and /or time of reception of the signal may allow the central server todetermine the distance of the phone from the receiver. The mere factthat a signal is received may also indicate the location of the phone.In certain embodiment, a low strength receiver that receives a signal,or a receiver that receives a signal from a low power transmitter, mayindicate that the transmitter is within a certain area. For example, abase unit may be equipped to receive a signal from a handset unit onlyif the handset is within one hundred feet of the base. In anotherexample, a base unit may readily determine when the handset isphysically plugged into the base.

[0027] It is additionally possible to use a plurality of such receiversto more accurately determine the location of the phone through knownlocating techniques, including but not limited to triangulation.Referring now to FIG. 3, a diagram of a Telephony ApplicationProgramming Interface (TAPI) 332 connected to monitoring clienttelephone 206, monitored client telephone 202 and central server 204 maybe generally appreciated. Those of ordinary skill in the art willreadily contemplate, based on the present disclosure, other interfacesbesides the specific TAPI illustrated in FIG. 3. Central server 204includes a plurality of communication applications 302 such as a callcontrol application 304, an interactive voice application 306, a voicemail application 308, a call center application 310, and a TCP/IPconferencing application 312. Central server 204 also includes aregistration service 314, a notification service 316, anencryption/decryption service 318, a queue manager 320, a start-up/selftest service 322, a monitoring service 324, a TCP/IP database 326, aclient database 328, a digital signature 336, a call accounting service338 and a DTMF code database 340. A TAPI interface 330 connects each ofthe above components to TAPI 332. A detailed description of theservices, managers, and databases in conjunction with FIG. 5 will beprovided below.

[0028] As shown, TAPI 332 enables applications to access all thetelephony options available on any machine. For example, thecommunication applications 302 including call control application 304,interactive voice application 306, voice mail application 308, callcenter application 310 and TCP/IP conferencing application 312 mayaccess all telephony options available on monitoring telephone 206 andmonitored client telephone 202. For instance, the applications mayaccess monitored client database 334 stored on monitoring clienttelephone 206.

[0029] The data on a call is available to applications in a standardmanner. TAPI 332 is an architecture that provides simple and genericmethods for making connections between two or more machines and provideseach machine access to any media stream involved in that connection.TAPI 332 abstracts call-control functionality to provide a commoninterface to applications that utilize different and seeminglyincompatible communication protocols. This interface connects monitoredclient telephone 202 and monitoring client telephone 206 to centralserver 204.

[0030] Referring now to FIG. 4A, a diagram of a client telephone 400 ofan embodiment of the present invention may be better appreciated. One ofordinary skill in the art will recognize that client telephone 400 maycomprise either a monitoring client telephone 206 or a monitored clienttelephone 202. Client telephone 400 may be implemented as one or moreseparate devices. For example, client telephone 400 may be a singledevice or comprise a combination such as a telephone in communicationwith a separate sensor input device which is itself in communicationwith a separate transmitter device. Many more variations arecontemplated by the present disclosure.

[0031] Client telephone 400 operates under a multi-tasking,multithreaded operating system platform (e.g., UNIX, or WINDOWS NT byMICROSOFT of Redmond, Wash.). As shown, client telephone 400 includes adisplay device 402, an input device 405, a processor 404 and a datastorage device 407. Processor 404 is connected to a communication port406 (e.g., network interface).

[0032] Input device 405 may comprise a keyboard comprising a pluralityof DTMF coded buttons. Alternatively or in addition, input device 405may comprise a means for receiving other types of input. For example,input device 405 may comprise a GPS receiver for receiving informationfrom a global positioning system. Such a GPS receiver typically receivesbroadcast signals that allow it to determine latitude, longitude,altitude, and time. Similarly, input device 405 may comprise a receiverthat receives various wireless signals such as radio signals or infraredsignals. Such receivers may be capable of receiving signals transmittedby cell phones, appliance remote controls such a s television remotecontrols, remote car lock actuators, remote garage door openers, PDAs,and other devices.

[0033] Input device 405 may comprise sensors or detectors that detectstimulus such as motion sensors (whether based on Doppler effects orother types of motion sensors), sensors that measure movement oractuation of a door or garage door; electrical sensors that detectactivation or deactivation of air conditioners, lights and otherdevices; general electrical sensors that detect power consumption;weight sensors; temperature sensors; and combinations and equivalentsthereof.

[0034] Input device 405 may comprise means for detecting the powering upor activation of the client telephone 400. For example, the input device405 may comprise a detector in communication with a circuit thatactivates or powers up a device, component of a device or plurality ofcomponents of a device. Accordingly, input device 405 may comprise meansfor detecting the powering up or activation of (i) a telephone, such asa desktop phone, cellular phone or wireless phone; (ii) a computer; or(iii) a television.

[0035] Input device 405 may comprise a microphone or other audioreception device, possibly but not necessarily separate from theconventional microphone of a telephone for receiving spoken sounds. Sucha microphone can be operational to detect, process and / or transmitsound even if the phone is in an inactive state, such as when it is notin use or when a receiver is cradled.

[0036] Display device 402 is an LCD or other type of display that showsthe status of each party being monitored by client telephone 400, inaccordance with the data stored in monitored client database 334. Forexample, the display shows a name and the current status of each partybeing monitored. It will be appreciated that client telephone 400 mightnot include display device 402.

[0037] Communications port 406 provides the network interface to centralserver 204 using TCP/IP over the D channel on an ISDN telephone line.One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that thetelecommunication specifications are provided purely for illustrativepurposes and that alternative embodiments of this invention may includedifferent telecommunication methods.

[0038] Data storage device 407 includes a monitoring service 324 thatprocessor 404 executes to provide client digital phone 400 withmonitoring functionality. Data storage device 407 also includes astartup/self-test service 410, display manager 412, digital signature414, encryption/decryption service 416, monitored client database 334,call accounting service 418, a TAPI interface 420, a communicationsapplications 422, a registration service 424, a queue manager 426, aDTMF code database 428, and a notification service 430. Thecommunications applications 422, the registration service 424, the queuemanager 426, the DTMF code database 428, and the notification service430 are utilized by the client telephone 400 in ways similar to those ofthe corresponding elements of the central server 204, as describedbelow.

[0039] Startup/self-test service 410, at startup, tests all hardware ofclient telephone 400 and loads the operating system and services. Ifconnected via TAPI interface 420 to central server 204, startup occurswhen client telephone 400 is powered on. A startup may also occur if auser presses a re-boot key (not shown) located on client telephone 400.Startup/self-test process 410 typically includes three types of tests.It performs a checksum on EPROM, checks the ISDN line to confirm thatthe link with central server 204 on D and both B channels is up andrunning, and confirms that a “service provider identification” (SPID)matches the SPID pre-programmed on client telephone 400. A SPID istypically composed of the telephone number of client telephone 400followed by four additional digits. It will be appreciated that centralserver 204 assigns client telephone 400 TCP/IP information during theinitial connection between client telephone 400 and central server 204,and client telephone 400 subsequently stores that information. It willalso be appreciated that, at startup, client telephone 400 sends itsTCP/IP information to central server 204, and central server 204verifies that the TCP/IP information matches the assigned TCP/IPinformation of client telephone 400. One of ordinary skill in the artwill understand that in addition to ISDN, startup/self-test service 410may be applied to other types of communication technology.

[0040] If client telephone 400 is a monitoring client telephone 206,after startup/self-test service 410 is executed by processor 404,monitoring client telephone 206 requests that central server 204 sendstatus updates of the monitored client telephones 202 that it isauthorized to receive. Monitoring client telephone 206 seizes the Dchannel of the ISDN line and sends its DTMF codes. Central server 204reads the registration information and routes the call to registrationservice 314 via a communications (e.g., a DS-1 or DS-3) line. One ofordinary skill in the art will recognize that the demand forcommunication lines at the time central server 204 transmits the codeinformation determines which line is chosen. Registration service 314senses the incoming call and causes central server 204 to go off-hook onthat line. Once off-hook, registration service 314 opens a communicationlink between central server 204 and monitoring client telephone 206.

[0041] Once monitoring client telephone 206 senses that the D channelcommunication link with central server 204 is established, it builds andencrypts an acknowledgment message with its SPID and a digitalsignature. Encryption/decryption service 416 of monitoring clienttelephone 206 uses the public key of central server 204 to encrypt amessage and generate a digital signature bundled with the message.Encryption/decryption service 318 of central server 204 uses the privatekey of central server 204 to decrypt the message and validate thesignature. The digital signature provides the security clearance ofmonitoring client telephone's 206 identity.

[0042] If encryption/decryption service 318 of central server 204successfully decrypts the message and verifies the digital signature ofmonitoring client telephone 206, central server 204 sends anacknowledgment (ACK) message and its digital signature back tomonitoring client telephone 206. If the verification fails, server 204instead sends a no-acknowledgment (NAK) and its digital signature backto monitoring client telephone 206 and drops the line. If monitoringclient telephone 206 receives an ACK, it verifies the digital signatureof central server 204. If the verification is a success, monitoringclient telephone 206 returns an ACK message to server 204. If theverification fails, monitoring client telephone 206 returns a NAKmessage to server 204 and drops the line. If the communications betweencentral server 204 and monitoring client telephone 206 resulted in ACKs,a session is established between monitoring client telephone 206 andregistration service 314 of central server 204.

[0043] Registration service 314 queries client database 328 to confirmthat the account of monitoring client telephone 206 is in good standing.Although not shown, a preferred embodiment of client database 328 mayinclude client billing and account information. It will be appreciatedthat the telephone company will typically provide the status monitoringservice only to clients that have paid their telephone bills.Registration service 314 then sends a clear to send (CTS) message tomonitoring client telephone 206 that it is ready and waiting. Monitoringclient telephone 206 receives the message and creates and sends amonitor message (MM) to registration service 314. Registration service314 receives the message and queries client database 328 to obtain thecurrent status of the monitored client telephones 202 that monitoringclient telephone 206 is authorized to receive. Alternatively, themessage from monitoring client telephone 206 may include a request for astatus update of specific monitored client telephones 206.

[0044] After entering the appropriate status information into a message,registration service 314 uses the public key of monitoring clienttelephone 206 to encrypt the message, and return the message. Monitoringclient telephone 206 receives the message and decrypts it with itsprivate key.

[0045] Monitoring client telephone 206 then updates monitored clientdatabase 334 and outputs the status of each party. Monitoring clienttelephone 206 then sends a message to registration service 314 ofcentral server 204 acknowledging successful receipt of the statusupdates. Call accounting service 338 updates client database 328 to billfor the successful inquiry and drops the session by clearing thechannel. Monitoring client telephone 206 recognizes that the channel isdown and enters into a wait state until notification service 316 sendsit updated status information. One of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that once monitoring client telephone 206 restarts and resetswith status updates of monitored client telephones 202, monitoringclient telephone 206 begins to automatically receive status updateswithout the need to poll central server 204.

[0046] Monitored client database 334 includes monitoring informationstored on storage device 407 of client telephone 400. See FIG. 6 for anexemplary view of monitored client database 334. As shown, themonitoring information includes monitored client SPID 602, monitoredclient name 604 and status 606 of the monitored client. It will beappreciated that alternative embodiments of this invention may includeother varied types of monitoring information. For example, monitoredclient database 334 may also include information such as total number ofhours a monitored phone is busy, or total number of hours that amonitored telephone of an employee had an associated status of“working”.

[0047] Display manager 412 accesses monitored client database 334, anddisplays this information on display device 402 of client telephone 400(if display is the method of outputting status). Display manager 412 mayalso display messages originating from central server 204. For example,display manager 412 may receive and display messages from central server204 during registration of client telephone 400.

[0048] Digital signature 414 provides client digital telephone 400 withthe ability to verify the identity of a sender of TCP/IP message packetsby creating and utilizing private and public keys. Digital signature 414is included with encrypted messages sent between client telephone 400and central server 204. At client telephone 400, the recipient's publickey is used to encrypt a message and generate a digital signature stringthat is bundled therein. Upon receipt of the message, the recipient,such as central server 204 or another client telephone 400, uses itsprivate key to decrypt the message and validate the signature.Validating the signature verifies the message sender's identity.

[0049] Call accounting service 418 on client telephone 400 maintainsup-to-date billing information. For example, call accounting service 338of central server 204 sends telephone usage and billing updates toclient's telephone 400 and stores the updates on storage device 407. Inresponse to a subscriber's request, display manager 412 accesses anddisplays the information on display device 402. It will be appreciatedthat central server 204, in an embodiment of this invention, routinelyinitiates the transmission of accounting information to call accountingservice 418. In still another embodiment, call accounting centralservice 418 retrieves telephone usage and billing updates from centralserver 204 in response to a request from the subscriber of clienttelephone 400.

[0050]FIG. 4B illustrates an embodiment of client telephone 400. A phone450 is in communication via wire or wireless medium with a peripheral455, which is in turn in communication via wire or wireless medium witha display 460. Display 460 may comprise any device for presentinginformation visually, such as an LCD (liquid crystal display), monitor,or similar device. The functionality of the embodiments of the presentinvention may be distributed among the phone 450, peripheral 455 anddisplay 460 in an appropriate manner as would be apparent to one ofordinary skill in the art. For example, peripheral 455 may comprise acomputer or similar computing device.

[0051] A communication device 465 permits the phone 450 to transmit andreceive signals. Communication device 465 may comprise means fortransmitting and receiving data over a cable, wire or similar medium, asmight be appropriate for a desktop phone. Alternatively, communicationdevice 465 may comprise means for transmitting and receiving datawirelessly via infrared, radio or similar signals, as might beappropriate for a cellular phone or other wireless device. In oneembodiment, peripheral 455 and display 460 may compose an integral unitwhich is adapted to be connected to phone 450. For example, an integralunit may comprise a single casing which encloses therein the peripheral455 and the display 460, while the casing defines an opening allowing aportion on the viewable area of the display to be seen outside thecasing.

[0052] Such an integral unit, or at least one of the individualperipheral and display, may be fitted to the phone 450 and detachablyheld thereto by the shape of the integral unit relative to the phone450. Alternatively, fitting to the phone detachably holding thereto maybe accomplished by a fixing means such as a snap or similar means.Physical contact need not be required for communication between thephone 450 and the peripheral 455.

[0053] Referring now to FIG. 5, a diagram of central server 204 may bebetter appreciated. Central server 204 operates under a multi-tasking,multithreaded operating system platform (e.g., UNIX, or WINDOWS NT byMICROSOFT of Redmond, Wash.). As shown, central server 204 includes aninput device 502 (e.g., CD ROM or floppy disk drive, keyboard),processor 504 connected to a communications port 506, and a storagedevice 507. Communications port 506 provides a network interface, usingTCP/IP over the D channel on an ISDN telephone line to connect centralserver 204 to monitored client telephone 202 and to monitoring clienttelephone 206. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that thetelecommunication specifications are provided purely for illustrativepurposes, and that alternative embodiments of this invention may includedifferent types of telecommunication methods.

[0054] Storage device 507 includes monitoring service 324, TAPIinterface 330, encryption/decryption service 318, start-up/self-testservice 322, queue manager 320, notification service 316, registrationservice 314, client database 328, TCP/IP information database 326,communication applications 302, call accounting service 338, digitalsignature 336 and DTMF code database 340. Monitoring service 324provides central server 204 with a monitoring process in accordance withvarious embodiments of the present invention. TAPI interface 330, asdiscussed above, enables applications, such as monitoring service 324,to access all the telephony options available on any client telephone.For example, it provides monitoring service 324 with access to updatedmonitored client database 324 stored on client telephone 400.

[0055] Encryption/decryption service 318 employs private and public keysto respectively decrypt and encrypt messages that are sent to clienttelephone 400. This process also employs a digital signature 336 toverify the message sender's identity. Central server 204 receives adigital string encrypted with a message from client telephone 400. Uponreceipt of the message, central server 204 uses its private key todecrypt the message and validate digital signature 336. Similarly, whencentral server 204 sends a message to client telephone 400, centralserver 204 utilizes the public key of client telephone 400 to encryptthe message and generate a digital signature string that is bundledtherein. Client telephone 400 uses its private key to decrypt themessage and validate the server's identity.

[0056] Startup/self-test service 322 initializes all components atstartup and checks predetermined parameters when booting up. Testsinclude confirming that the ISDN line over D and both B channels thatconnect central server 204 and client telephones 400 is operating withinpredetermined parameters, and verifying that incoming messages tocentral server 204 are originated from authorized SPIDs. For example, atstartup, startup/self-test service 410 of client telephone 400 sends aSPID verification message to central server 204. Startup/self-testservice 322 of central server 204 verifies that the SPID is authorizedto receive monitoring information.

[0057] Registration service 314 registers monitored client telephones202 and monitoring client telephones 206, and maintains a list ofcurrent accounts and a list of the active connections betweensubscribers. Registration service 314 stores the list of currentaccounts on client database 328 and stores the list of activeconnections on TCP/IP information database 326. FIG. 7 shows an exampleof client database 328, and FIG. 8 shows an example of TCP/IPinformation database 326.

[0058] If the status of monitored client telephone 202 changes,notification service 316 receives a status information update.Notification service 316 notifies queue manager 320 to transmit thestatus update to the appropriate monitoring client telephones 206. Queuemanager 320 receives notification of the status change from notificationservice 316, queries client database 328 for the appropriate SPID(s) tocontact, and transmits an indication of the change in status to theauthorized clients designated by the appropriate SPID(s).

[0059] Call accounting service 338 maintains and sends billinginformation in real time to each client. More particularly, callaccounting service 338 sends accounting and billing information inupdate packets to the client's telephone either (i) periodically (e.g.,daily), or (2) in response to a client request. Accordingly, a clientcan always view in real time the specific charges associated with a callor view the running total for monthly bill. It will be appreciated thatcall accounting service 418 employed by client telephone 400 provides asubscriber with numerous functions for viewing and processing specificcharges.

[0060] Referring now to FIG. 6, a diagram of an exemplary monitoredclient database 334 stored within monitoring client telephone 206 may bebetter appreciated. As shown, each entry of monitored client database334 specifies a monitored client telephone 202 that is assigned to sendstatus information to a monitoring client telephone 206. In an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, monitored client database 334includes, for each party being monitored, a monitored client SPID 602, amonitored client name 604, and the current status 606 of monitoredclient telephone 202. It will be appreciated that for a given monitoredclient SPID 602, monitoring client telephone 206 may monitor more thanone status. For example, the last entry 607 of monitored client database334 includes more than one status.

[0061] A number of methods are available to enter data into monitoredclient database 334. For example, in one method, a client using inputdevice 405 locally inputs monitored client SPIDs 602, and correspondingmonitored client names 604 into monitored client database 334. In analternative method, central server 204, in response to a request frommonitoring client telephone 206, remotely updates the SPIDs of monitoredclient database 334.

[0062] A client requests status monitoring by either calling a telephonecompany's toll-free number to verbally request monitoring, or byelectronically submitting a request via an Interactive Voice Response(IVR) unit. It will be appreciated that a Voice Response Unit (VRU) mayalso be used. However, before monitoring of a particular SPID occurs,central server 204 must receive permission from the party at monitoredclient telephone 202. The central telephone office requests permissionby electronically sending a request via central server 204 to monitoredclient telephone 202, or by contacting the party using another method.Other methods may include, for example, a telephone call, an e-mail, ora letter. If central server 204 receives permission, it sends anauthorizing signal to monitoring client telephone 206. Once authorized,monitoring client telephone 206 receives status updates from centralserver 204, and enters the updates into monitored party database 334.Display device 402 of the monitoring client telephone 206 displays eachstatus update 606.

[0063] Alternatively, monitored client telephone 202 may initiate therequest to be monitored by monitoring client telephone 206. When centralserver 204 electronically receives the request, or the central telephoneservice receives the request using another manner, the service requestspermission to send monitoring client telephone 206 status updates ofmonitored client telephone 202. As discussed above, the request forpermission may be electronically submitted by central server 204 orprovided using another manner.

[0064] It will be appreciated that a subscriber at monitoring clienttelephone 206 may monitor a status change of a particular predeterminedcondition. For example, a subscriber may choose to monitor the “busy”status of monitored client telephone 202. Alternatively, a subscribermay choose to monitor when the person at monitored client telephone 202enters a DTMF code indicative of a working status. One of ordinary skillin the art will recognize that these examples are purely illustrative ofdifferent status changes, and that alternative embodiments of thepresent invention may include status changes of other predeterminedconditions.

[0065] Referring now to FIG. 7(A), a diagram of an exemplary clientdatabase 328 stored on central server 204 may be better appreciated. Asshown, this database includes entries for each monitored clienttelephone 202 that is registered with central server 204. Each entryincludes the party being monitored, identifiable by monitored clientSPID 702, the party receiving the status updates, identifiable bymonitoring client SPID 704, and the particular status changes monitoringclient telephone 206 will receive, shown as monitored status 706 and acurrent status 708. It will be appreciated that the current status 708of an entry of client database 328 may include more than one status. Theprocess of updating and maintaining client database 328 will bediscussed in conjunction with the description of the registrationprocess shown in FIG. 9.

[0066] Referring now to FIG. 7(B), a diagram of exemplary DTMF codedatabase 340 stored at central server 204 may be better appreciated. Asshown, this database includes a status 714 assigned to each DTMF code712. Notification service 316 of central server 204 uses DTMF codedatabase 710 to translate incoming DTMF codes to an appropriate status.It will be appreciated that a DTMF code may represent information otherthan a status. For example, a DTMF code may represent a request forbilling information.

[0067] Referring now to FIG. 8, a diagram of exemplary TCP/IPinformation database 326 stored at central server 204 may be betterappreciated. As shown, this database includes entries for each clienttelephone 400 registered with central server 204. Each entry includes aSPID address 802 and a corresponding TCP/IP address 804. A TCP/IPaddress information 804 is issued to each client telephone 400registered with central server 204. It will be appreciated that centralserver 204 communicates with other nodes and clients based on theirassigned TCP/IP address 804. One of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that the header portion of messages sent between monitored andmonitoring client telephones 400 and central server 204 typicallyinclude a TCP/IP address 804. When receiving or sending a message,central server 204 uses the SPID address 802 listed in the TCP/IPdatabase 326 to verify that the TCP/IP address included within themessage's header portion is correct.

[0068] Referring now to FIG. 9., a flowchart of a status monitoringprocess 900 may be generally appreciated. As shown, in step 902, centralserver 204 registers the subscriber of monitoring client telephone 206.In step 904, the subscriber of monitoring client telephone 206 selectsthe parties the subscriber wishes to monitor. In step 906, centralserver 204 registers the parties to be monitored. It will be appreciatedthat prior to registering these parties, central server 204 may requesteach party's permission to be monitored by the subscriber of monitoringclient telephone 206. In step 908, central server 204 receives TCP/IPpackets from monitored client telephone 202. In step 910, central server204 transmits the TCP/IP packets to the monitoring client telephone 202configured to receive the status updates. Once received, monitoringclient telephone 206 displays the status to the subscriber. One ofordinary skill in the art will recognize that FIG. 9 shows the generalsteps of an embodiment of the present invention, and that FIGS. 10-12described below will explain each step in greater detail.

[0069] It will be appreciated that in alternative embodiments of thepresent invention, monitored client telephone 202 may register prior tomonitoring client telephone 206. Furthermore, monitored client telephone202 may select the parties that it wishes to provide status updates.Prior to sending the status updates, monitoring client telephone 206must register and provide central server 204 of the central telephonepermission to receive the status information.

[0070] When a party at a client telephone 400 wishes to register as asubscriber of a monitored client telephone 202 in step 906, or as amonitoring client telephone 306 in step 902, client telephone 400 seizesthe D channel of the ISDN line and sends the registration information tocentral server 204 of a telephone station's central office. Centralserver 204 reads the registration information and routes the call toregistration service 314 via a DS-1 or DS-3 line. One of ordinary skillin the art will recognize that the demand for communication lines at thetime central server 204 transmits the code information determines whichline is chosen. Registration service 314 senses the incoming call andcentral server 204 goes off-hook on that line. Once off-hook,registration service 314 opens a communication link between centralserver 204 and the party wishing to register.

[0071] The request for a party's permission to be monitored by thesubscriber may be accomplished in a variety of ways. The party mayaffirmatively register his willingness to be monitored, whether or not arequest for permission has been directed to him. Accordingly, asubscriber need not select parties to monitor—the parties may indicatethat they are to be monitored.

[0072] For example, the party may enter an indication of one or moresubscribers that are authorized to monitor the party. Such an indicationmay be entered via a phone, for example, by actuating numeric keys(e.g., on input device 405) to indicate the phone number of suchauthorized subscribers. Such an indication may also be entered via aphone, for example, by communicating with a VRU (Voice Response Unit).Such a method of entry could be performed via any public or privatephone, whether or not the that phone had other capabilities describedherein. An indication of one or more subscribers that are authorized tomonitor the party may be entered via a computer communicating with a website, which in turn provides the information to, e.g., central server204.

[0073] The indication of subscribers that are authorized to monitor theparty may be made automatically without much or any input from theparty. For example, the party may set or accept a threshold such thatpeople the party calls (or people that call the party) more than thethreshold are authorized to monitor the party.

[0074] Many other methods of entry, and many other types of devices usedin such entry, will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.

[0075] A list of one or more subscribers that are authorized to monitorthe party may be stored locally on the party's phone or other device and/ or stored remotely on central server 204.

[0076] Various parties may be authorized to monitor only certain kindsof statuses of a particular monitored party. For example, a first groupmay be authorized to monitor all statuses of a particular party, while asecond group may be authorized to monitor only certain statuses of thatparty. In another embodiment, various parties may be able to attaindifferent levels of access by paying. For example, telemarketers andother businesses may be able to pay to ascertain certain statuses of aparty. The status of a monitored party may be employed as a “block”against certain calls. In certain embodiments, it is not necessary for amonitoring party to register at all. The block applies to certaincallers or all callers, irrespective of whether any party registered inany way to receive status. In one embodiment, a status may simplyindicate that no calls are allowed to get through to the monitored party(i.e. all calls blocked). In another embodiment, a status may indicatethat only certain people are blocked, or that only certain people areunblocked (i.e. may call).

[0077] In some embodiments, certain parties may be allowed to always getthrough a block. For example, it may be desirable for the monitoredparty to always permit a spouse and parent to circumvent a block. Inalways granting such parties access, their phones could be alwaysgranted access to the monitored party (e.g., by receiving an identifyingsignal (e.g., ANI, SPID) from such phone and comparing that signal witha list of authorized phones), or those parties could be provided withspecial access codes. Upon calling the monitored party when a block isin effect, the party would enter the access code and be granted accessby allowing there call to get through.

[0078] A monitoring party that attempts to call the monitored party butis “blocked” may, e.g., receive a busy signal, receive a particular kindof busy signal, or receive a particular audio message.

[0079] Certain locations or certain times may be marked as “blocked”,thereby preventing some or all calls from going through. For example,from a phone which has a location that may be determined, a party mayenter a code that indicates the current location as a “blocked” locationor a location where a certain status is to be established. For example,a party may enter an office building and enter a code via a wirelessphone. This could establish a status of “unavailable” while the party isin the building.

[0080] The location of the phone upon entry of the code may bedetermined, such that, e.g., that location alone is an area in which thestatus would be established as “unavailable”. Optionally, a radius maybe set such that when the phone is within the radius of that locationthe status would be established as “unavailable”. Such a radius may bepredetermined, or alterable (e.g., by the party).

[0081] As described herein, once the status changes, for example, if aparty moves out of an office building previously marked as having astatus of “unavailable”, an email, message or other transmission may beautomatically sent to monitoring parties.

[0082] In one embodiment, a group of certain parties may be established,and a member of the group may determine who in the group is callinganother, and who is free. The identity of those called by other groupmembers may or may not be made available.

[0083] In certain embodiments, establishing such a group can allow amember of the group to sort a list of the other members in order of,e.g., frequency of calls to the parties, frequency of calls from theparties, frequency of calls to or from the parties and / or frequency ofcalls from the parties to any member of the group.

[0084] In certain embodiments, it can be advantageous to rate members ofthe group based on, e.g., calls with others, calls to other customers onthe phone network provider (e.g., Verizon) or calls with other membersof the group. The rating may be based on, e.g., number of such calls,duration of such calls. A rating according to this embodiment may conferrewards such as discounted or free products, discounted or free servicesfrom the phone network provider. The rank may be displayed or otherwisemade known to member of the group, conferring psychological rewards orpenalties upon members.

[0085] In one embodiment, a group of members may eavesdrop on othermembers who are communicating with one another via, e.g., voice, textmessaging. Such eavesdropping may be automatically allowed, or mayrequire permission from those engaged in communicating. It may also beadvantageous to allow members of the group to access a “log” of priorcommunication (e.g., recorded voice, recorded text messages) to alloweavesdropper to catch up on what had been communicating prior toeavesdropping.

[0086] Referring now to FIG. 10, the registration process performed byregistration service 314 of central server 204 may be betterappreciated. In step 1002, registration service 314 receives a requestfrom a registering client telephone 400 for a TCP/IP address and asecurity clearance. The security clearance process utilizes a digitalsignature and encryption to secure the messages sent between clienttelephone 400 and central server 204. More particularly, once clienttelephone 400 senses that the D channel communication link with centralserver 204 is established, it builds and encrypts an acknowledgmentmessage with its SPID and a digital signature.

[0087] Client Telephone 400 uses a public key of central server 204 toencrypt a message and generate a digital signature bundled with themessage. The recipient of the message uses its private key to decryptthe message and validate the signature. The digital signature providesthe security clearance of the message sender's identity. It will beappreciated that all communications between central server 204 andclient telephone are encrypted and include a digital signature.

[0088] At registration, if encryption/decryption service 318 decryptsthe message and verifies the digital signature of client telephone 400,central server 204 sends an acknowledgment (ACK) message and its digitalsignature back to client telephone 400. If the verification fails,central server 204 instead sends a no-acknowledgment (NAK) and itsdigital signature back to client telephone 400 and drops the line. Ifclient telephone 400 receives an ACK, it verifies the digital signatureof central server 204. If the verification is a success, clienttelephone 400 returns an ACK message to central server 204. If theverification fails, client telephone 400 returns a NAK message tocentral server 204 and drops the line. If these communications resultedin ACKs, a session is established between client telephone 400 andregistration service 314 of central server 204.

[0089] In step 1004, registration service 314 receives a SPID/MAC (MediaAccess Control Layer) address from registering client telephone 400. Itwill be appreciated that the SPID/MAC was either pre-programmed intoregistering client telephone 400 or was previously assigned by centralserver 204. In step 1006, registration service 314 checks the SPID/MACformat. In step 1008, if the format is incorrect, registration service314 sends an “unable to process request” message to client telephone400. If the format is correct, in step 1010, registration service 314issues client telephone 400 a TCP/IP address.

[0090] In step 1012, registration service 314 stores the SPID of clienttelephone 400 into the appropriate field of client database 522. Ifclient telephone 400 is a monitored client telephone 202, registrationservice 314 stores the SPID as a monitored client SPID 702. If clienttelephone 400 is a monitoring client telephone 206, registration service314 stores the SPID as a monitoring client SPID 704. In step 1014,registration service 314 stores the SPID address and the correspondingTCP/IP address in TCP/IP address database 326. Once client database 328and TCP/IP address database 326 are updated, registration service 314sends a registration acknowledgment message back to client telephone 400indicating that it is now registered.

[0091] After client telephone 400 registers as a monitoring clienttelephone 206, in step 904, the subscriber of client telephone 400selects one or more parties that the subscriber wishes to monitor. Atmonitoring client telephone 206, the subscriber may enter each parties'phone number into monitored client database 334, where each partiesphone number is mapped to a SPID. Once entered, monitoring clienttelephone 206 sends these telephone numbers to registration service 314.Alternatively, the subscriber may also select parties to monitor bycontacting the service associated with registration service 314off-line, and submitting a request to monitor the specified parties.

[0092] Once registration service 314 receives the request to monitor oneor more parties, registration service 314 verifies that the partiesagree to be monitored. If a party is a current subscriber of the statusmonitoring service, registration service 314 of central server 204 mayelectronically send the permission request directly to that party'sclient telephone 400. Alternatively, if a party is not a currentsubscriber, the central service may verify that the party agrees to bemonitored by contacting that person off-line (e.g., via telephone call,postal mail, e-mail).

[0093] If the party agrees to be monitored by the subscriber ofmonitoring client telephone 206, in step 906, registration service 314registers the monitored party which the subscriber selected. It will beappreciated that if the party agrees to be monitored and does notcurrently included as an entry within the TCP/IP information database326 of central server 204, registration service 314 registers this partyby performing the steps of the registration process described above andshown in FIG. 10. For all monitored parties, registration service 314updates client database 328 with each party's monitored client SPID 702, the status 706 being monitored, and the monitoring client SPID 704 ofthe subscriber who will receive the status updates of the monitoredclient.

[0094] Once client database 328 and TCP/IP information database 326includes the appropriate identifiers assigned to each new party to bemonitored, registration service 314 sends an indication to monitoringclient telephone 206 that the parties agreed to be monitored and areregistered at central server 204. It will be appreciated that a numberof methods exist to update monitoring client telephone 206 with theSPIDs of the parties that will be monitored. For example, in one method,central server 204, in response to a request from monitoring clienttelephone 206, remotely updates monitored client database 334 with theSPIDs 602 and the corresponding monitored client names 604. In analternative method, the subscriber locally inputs monitored client SPIDs602, and corresponding monitored client names 604 into monitored clientdatabase 334.

[0095] Referring now to FIG. 11, a notification process 1100 performedby notification service 316 of central server 204 may be betterappreciated. Once registration service 314 registers the monitoring andmonitored parties, monitored client telephone 202 automatically sendsstatus updates via central server 204 to the subscriber of monitoringclient telephone 206. Monitored client telephone 202 sends each statusupdate in a TCP/IP packet when its status changes.

[0096] It will be appreciated that the status change may be a DTMF codeentered by the monitored party into monitored client telephone 202. Forexample, a party when working may enter a DTMF code. It will also beappreciated that when a first monitored party initiates a call to asecond monitored party, monitored client telephone 202 of the firstmonitored party will submit status updates of both parties to centralserver 204. Furthermore, the status update may show that the firstmonitored party is electronically connected to the second monitoredparty.

[0097] Prior to sending a packet of status updates, monitored clienttelephone 202 uses a public key of central server 204 to encrypt andprovide a digital signature within the TCP/IP packet. In step 1102,notification service 316 of central server 204 receives the encryptedTCP/IP packet from monitored client telephone 202. Notification 316service uses the private key to decrypt and verify the packet's digitalsignature. Notification service 316 also compares the SPID and TCP/IPaddress information provider in the header portion of the TCP/IP packetto the appropriate entry in the TCP/IP database 326 to verify the sourceof the status update. Once the source of the update is verified,notification service 316 stores the status to current status 708 of theappropriate record(s).

[0098] In step 1104, notification service 316 queries client database328 to retrieve a record that includes monitored client telephone 202.In step 1106, notification service 316 determines if this record appliesto the status update it received. More specifically, it determines ifthis status update corresponds to the status information that monitoringclient telephone 206 is configured to receive. If the statuscorresponds, in step 1110, notification service 316 transmits the TCP/IPpacket to queue manager 320. If the status does not correspond, in step1108, notification service 316 determines if there is another recordcorresponding to monitored client telephone 202. If there is anotherrecord, notification service 316 determines if this record applies tothe status update it received from monitored client telephone 202. Itwill be appreciated that this process continues until notificationservice 316 reviews all records of client database 328 that apply tomonitored client telephone 202. Once the review of client database 328records is completed, in step 1112, notification process 1100 ends.

[0099] Referring now to FIG. 12, a queuing process 1200 performed byqueue manager 320 of central server 204 may be better appreciated. Theprocess begins in step 1202 when queue manager 320 receives a TCP/IPpacket from notification service 316. This packet includes a statusupdate, and an origin and a destination SPID of respective monitoredclient telephone 202 and monitoring client telephone 206. In step 1204,queue manager 320 retrieves from TCP/IP address database 326 the TCP/IPaddress of monitoring client telephone 206 that corresponds to thedestination SPID. In step 1206, queue manager 320 transmits the TCP/IPpacket to the TCP/IP address of the appropriate monitoring clienttelephone 206. In step 1208, if monitoring client telephone 206successfully received the TCP/IP packet, queue manager 320 receives anacknowledgment of the successful transmission. Queue manager 320 updatesclient database 328 for billing purposes and drops the session withmonitoring client telephone 206.

[0100] It will be appreciated that all communications between centralserver 204 and each client may be encrypted. For example, the TCP/IPinformation that monitoring client telephone 206 receives is encrypted.Monitoring client telephone 206 uses its private key to decrypt andaccess the status update provided in the TCP/IP packet. Of course, oneof ordinary skill in the art will understand that the communications donot necessarily have to be encrypted. Monitoring client telephone 206updates monitored client database 334 with the status update. Displaymanager 412 of monitoring client telephone 206 displays the statusupdate on display device 402. Accordingly, the subscriber of monitoringclient telephone 206 is capable of monitoring the status of the partiesof monitored client telephones 202 without even picking up thetelephone.

[0101] Referring now to FIG. 13, an embodiment of client digital phone400 may be better appreciated. As shown, client digital phone 400includes a handset 1302, an LCD display 1304, DTMF buttons 1306,extension status indicators 1308 and a volume control 1310. The screenof sample LCD display 1304 shows the current status of the parties ofmonitored client telephones 202. One of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that the four parties shown on LCD display 1304 are purelyillustrative of the status information provided to subscribers, and thatany number of parties of monitored client telephones 202 may bedisplayed. If the number of monitored parties requires more displayspace than is available on LCD display 1304, the status entries maycontinuously scroll. Alternatively, client telephone 400 may includescrolling buttons, that allow a subscriber to scroll though pages ofclient digital phones 400 that are being monitored.

[0102] It will be appreciated that an alternative embodiment of thepresent invention may utilize the Internet and other networks totransfer status information of a pre-selected list of frequently calledtelephone numbers from central server 204 of the central service to theparty of monitoring client telephone 206. In this embodiment, centralserver 204 receives status information as described above, but insteadof sending the information to monitoring client telephone 206, centralserver 204 posts the status information to, e.g., the monitoring party'sweb page account.

[0103] One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that centralserver 204 may comprise a plurality of devices that are located innumerous geographical regions. Such devices would communicate with eachother for the purpose of transmitting status update packets betweendifferent geographic regions. Accordingly, each device includes in itsclient database, records of all monitored and monitoring clients fromall regions. When a device is notified of a status change of a monitoredparty, it transmits the status update packet to the device servicing theregion where the monitoring party is located. In one embodiment for thepresent invention, each local region may include one device.

[0104] It will be appreciated that unique separate servers may supporteach region by communicating with each other. It will be furtherappreciated that a single server may support multiple regions or may bedistributed across multiple regions.

[0105] A variety of different statuses, and uses of statuses, areconsistent with the present disclosure. For example, a status mayindicate who the monitored party is communicating with. In oneembodiment, the central server could readily determine who the monitoredparty was communicating with, and make that information available toauthorized monitoring parties.

[0106] A status may indicate who the monitored party is located near. Asdescribed herein, the location or approximate location of a phone may bedetermined. Accordingly, it may be determined which phones are locatednear the monitored phone. Such a status would be advantageous to, forexample, a parent monitoring a child.

[0107] A status may indicate the state of the battery of abattery-powered phone. Such a status would be advantageous in allowing amonitoring party to determine whether a call to the monitored partywould unduly deplete the battery of the monitored party.

[0108] A status may indicate the local time of the monitored party. Forexample, a monitored party may have traveled to a different time zone,and monitoring party can be informed of the local time of the monitoredparty. Such information would allow a monitoring party to exercisejudgment as to whether it would be an appropriate time to call themonitored party. Such a status may also be used by the monitored partyto block certain calls, for example, all calls after 11:00 PM of thelocal time of the monitored party.

[0109] A status may indicate whether the monitored party is using a textmessaging or similar feature of a phone, such as a wireless phone withtext messaging or email capability. Such a status may indicate, e.g.,whether a monitored party is (i) available for text messaging, (ii)currently entering text, (iii) currently reading text, (iv) scrolling,and/or (v) playing online games or engaging in other online activity.

[0110] A status may indicate whether the monitored party wants topreceive calls, or when the monitored party would like to receive calls.Such a capability may be extended only to certain kinds of calls. Forexample, the monitored party may desire to receive a call from customerservice, or a call indicating a desired weather report or news report.

[0111] In one embodiment, the status information may trigger a messagesent to the monitoring party. Such a message may be via email, instantmessaging, audio or other means.

[0112] Status information need not be displayed, or might be displayedin conjunction with other types of output of status information. Forexample, status information could be output through the speaker on thephone, another speaker or other audio device. Thus, status may be outputas messages such as “Bill is working right now”, “Bill's is in New Yorkand the local time is midnight”, or “Bill's battery is low. Please useyour judgment whether you should call him now.”

[0113] Status information may also be indicated by a busy signal, or adifferent kind of busy signal than is normally output. Different busysignals may be used for different statuses. The selection of busysignals used for different statuses may be selected by the monitoringparty and / or the monitored party.

[0114] A status may indicate whether the monitored party is moving, thespeed and/or the direction of movement. For example, the location of acar phone or cellular phone may be periodically determined, and thus achanging location can indicate that the monitored party is moving.Additionally, the speed and direction of movement can likewise be easilydetermined. It may be desirable to “block” calls when in moving. It mayalso be desirable to prevent outgoing calls while in motion. Similarly,it may be advantageous to require an override code to be entered into aphone while in motion in order to permit an outgoing call. For example,a state law may prohibit talking on a phone while driving a car.

[0115] The particular patterns of status changes may be learned. Forexample, if a certain location is established as having a status duringcertain times, or a certain status is periodically established duringcertain times of the day, these patterns may be learned by appropriatemachine learning techniques, as is well understood by those skilled inthe art. Thus, the party may be able to avoid manually entering statusinformation and other information if the requisite pattern has beenlearned. Similarly, once the pattern has been learned, the future statusat certain times may be predicted. Messages and other information may beadapted to this prediction. For example, if it is learned that a statusof unavailable occurs every work day between 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM then acalling party calling at 2:30 PM may be informed that the called partywill become available at 3:00 PM.

[0116] An additional status may be that the phone has detected a noise,or a noise exceeding a certain decibel level, at any time or while itsstatus was a predetermined status, such as “nobody home”. Such anembodiment would be advantageous for monitoring a home while it isvacant. Detecting a noise could trigger, e.g., a call to a predeterminednumber (such as a work number) and could also play back during that callthe previous thirty seconds of sound recorded prior to the detectednoise.

[0117] Another type of remote monitoring would be to permit informationfrom the phone to be transmitted to another location. For example, a logof calls made to the phone in the last four hours may be transmitted(e.g., via fax, email, over the phone) when a code is received (e.g.,via a work phone, via email). Additionally, after receiving such a log,a party could indicate which calls he wanted to return (e.g., uponarriving back home). In one embodiment such calls may be returnedwithout dialing; the order of returned calls could be established whenindicating which calls to return, and the calls made by merely pickingup the phone

We claim:
 1. A method comprising: receiving an indication of a secondtelephone that is authorized to monitor a first telephone; receiving arequest from the second telephone to monitor the first telephone;receiving a status from the first telephone; and sending the status tothe second telephone.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:storing a first identifier that identifies the first telephone and asecond identifier that identifies the second telephone; and sending thefirst identifier to the second telephone.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising: verifying good standing of a customer account of thesecond telephone.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving a request to register the second telephone, wherein therequest includes a digital signature and a second identifier thatidentifies the second telephone; registering the second telephone; andregistering the first telephone.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein thereceiving step further includes the steps of: receiving a request for asecond network address and a security clearance from the secondtelephone.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of registering thefirst telephone further includes the steps of: issuing the firsttelephone a first network address; and storing the second networkaddress and the corresponding first identifier.
 7. The method of claim4, wherein the step of registering the second telephone further includesthe steps of: verifying the digital signature; issuing the secondtelephone a second network address; and storing the second networkaddress and the corresponding second identifier.
 8. The method of claim1, further comprising: sending the first identifier to the secondtelephone for storage and display.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein thestep of receiving a request includes receiving a request to notify thesecond telephone when a status change of a predetermined condition ofthe first telephone occurs.
 10. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising: storing the status change of the predetermined conditionwith the corresponding first identifier and the corresponding secondidentifier.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determiningif the second telephone is authorized to receive the status of the firsttelephone.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: encrypting thestatus with a public key before sending the status to the secondtelephone.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising: recordingtransmission of the status to the second telephone's customer account.14. The method of claim 1, wherein the status indicates whether thefirst telephone is off-hook.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein thestatus indicates whether a user of the first telephone has entered atleast one predetermined DTMF code into the telephone.
 16. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: receiving an acknowledgment from the secondtelephone of a successful transmission of the status.
 17. A computerprogrammed to perform the method of claim
 1. 18. A computer-readablestorage medium encoded with instructions for directing a processor toperform the method of claim 1.